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In both interior design and our cultural consciousness, linoleum isn’t a very sexy word. It conjures up, at best, images of a retro 1950s checkered kitchen, and at worst, a drab, scuffed hospital floor. It’s in the same category as a flimsy vinyl or laminate flooring, but it shouldn’t be—first and foremost because linoleum is one of the safest, greenest materials in design. For real!
Linoleum is generally composed of wood flour, cork dust, linseed oil, pine tree resin, minerals and pigments, and jute fibers—all naturally occurring, decomposable, and renewable materials. “It's actually edible,” says Mark Bisbee, owner of flooring company GreenFloors, where he sells one of the most popular linoleum products, Marmoleum, which is manufactured by Forbo. (Not that we actually suggest eating it.)
Forbo’s Marmoleum is CO2 neutral and environmentally friendly, according to an evaluation called the life cycle assessment, or LCA, which considers every stage of a product’s life, from the harvesting of the raw materials to the product’s eventual disposal or recycling. And linoleum lives a relatively long life: Brisbee says the linoleum installed in his grandmother’s farmhouse 50 years ago has endured.
Sustainability is far from the only reason to use linoleum. Designers and architects, like Jessica Nakanishi, partner at MSDS Studio in Toronto, are realizing it’s a material with underutilized potential. Essentially, the ugly duckling of design is finally becoming a swan. “I don’t see why it’s not used more often,” Jessica says. “From a design standpoint, there are a lot of opportunities to use it in furniture, fixtures . . . something that isn’t flooring.” That’s exactly what she did for Flùr, a Toronto flower shop, layering Forbo Marmoleum elegantly over particleboard. The curvaceous end result manages to feel both minimalist and organic—and it helped Jessica stay on budget.
“We built the concept around landscape. Almost the whole project hinged on the linoleum’s ability to bend and have a radius and a durable surface,” says Jessica.
For a Brooklyn townhouse, GRT Architects used a marble-esque linoleum in spots where you would expect to find the real thing: the den floor and the kitchen countertop. “It's not a digital print; that's the liquids goo-ing together—which is the reason we love stone, because the pattern doesn't repeat. It's a natural thing,” says partner Rustam Mehta.
Rustam also considered comfort: Linoleum is relatively soft underfoot. Those same qualities translate well to a countertop. "Because it's resilient and soft, if you drop stuff on it, it doesn't make a loud sound,” he says. “You might not break your glasses. You could leave red wine on it all week and it wouldn't absorb."
GREC Architects teamed up with Los Angeles–based Commune to bring Ace Hotel Chicago to life, and together they discovered the leathery material’s creative possibilities, such as a desktop, bar top, and reception desk. “It's a great material to write on,” says Commune cofounder Roman Alonso.
Furniture companies, too, are wising up to the range of benefits linoleum offers. It features prominently in the Floyd table, making the surface hardy yet easily wiped clean. "The way it complements our birch tabletops is almost like fondant on a cake,” says Floyd CEO Kyle Hoff.
In Copenhagen, linoleum never really went out of style, says Reform CEO Jeppe Christensen. The company has outfitted many a U.S. kitchen in multicolored linoleum.
“I believe the Americans have started seeing the value of the material and now the ‘linoleum wave’ from Scandinavia is coming to the U.S.,” says Jeppe. We hope he’s right. It's time for a linoleum renaissance.
